The setting sun had sunk halfway below the horizon, and the moon had risen above the treetops.
In this secluded, deserted grove in the Imperial Academy, three sword sheaths faced one another. The distant din of the students rang out. Once all the students had left the academy, it also meant that the old principal, Cha Huan, had reached the end of his workday—as far as the intelligence went, Cha Huan liked to take a dump after work, then go eat dinner.
This was a well-known secret, because Cha Huan had once said in public, "Eating after completing one's metabolism is as timely as rain after a long drought, as pleasantly surprising as meeting an old friend in a foreign land, and as delightful as the wedding night." Before lunch and after work had always been Cha Huan's inviolable times for completing his metabolism.
If there had still been a chance of calling Cha Huan over to mediate earlier, then now, even if they shouted until their throats broke, no one would come.
The reason Le Yu and Nieruo were chatting with Thousand Faces was not because they were gossiping or bored—not entirely. Perhaps Le Yu was, but Nieruo was the kind of reckless man who would always act rather than speak.
They were both stalling, waiting until Cha Huan got off work.
Just then, Thousand Faces suddenly snickered. She pressed out her cigarette butt against the tree trunk, casually tucked it back into her dress, and said with a smile, "You didn't really believe it, did you? Ha-ha—Divine Weapon, Water of Variants, Calamity of Gratitude..."
"Do you know why I can disguise myself as other people and remain difficult to expose in most circumstances? It's not only because I can imitate other people's voices and expressions perfectly, but also